1. Baylor at TCU, Nov. 27. This time, the winner WILL make the College Football Playoff. Even though both were snubbed last year, the game was madly memorable: the Bears won a 61-58 shootout by scoring the final 24 points in the last 11 minutes. Then they may (or may not) have rubbed a little subliminal salt in the wound in this year’s team picture. In it, senior Jarell Broxton (No. 61) is right next to senior Spencer Drango (No. 58) on the front row. It was a “weird coincidence,” according to a Baylor spokesman. Probably didn’t seem coincidental to the Horned Frogs.
2. Ohio State at Michigan, Nov. 28.
Is one of the game’s great rivalries back, with the arrival/return of
Jim Harbaugh to Ann Arbor? Eventually Harbaugh vs. Urban Meyer could be
the 21st century version of Bo vs. Woody – but how soon? The Buckeyes
should be undefeated and the Wolverines defeated multiple times by the
time they meet, but that may not matter. Even bust Brady Hoke managed to
get his team to play over its head against Ohio State the last couple
of years, so expect more of that with Harbaugh in charge and the game in
the Big House.
3. Alabama at Auburn, Nov. 28.
Seems like sacrilege to put the Iron Bowl way down at third on this
list, especially after the last two wild ones. This time, the nation’s
fiercest rivalry returns to the scene of the most amazing play in its
history: the 109-yard return of a missed Alabama field goal with no time left
that catapulted Auburn to the 2013 SEC West title, ultimately to the
SEC title and into the final BCS championship game. That ending will
never be topped, but the stakes could again be sky-high.
4. Oregon at Michigan State, Sept. 12. Sexy intersectional matchup played a key role in the 2014 season: the Ducks won in Eugene, launching Marcus Mariota’s
Heisman Trophy bid and helping Oregon to a place in the College
Football Playoff. The loss put the Spartans behind the Playoff 8-ball,
and they stayed there after losing in November to Ohio State. Both teams
are ranked in the USA Today top six heading into this season, so the
matchup again carries a heavy payload. First huge test for Oregon
transfer QB Vernon Adams.
5. Michigan State at Ohio State, Nov. 21.
The two programs have alternated delivering haymakers to each other
since Meyer came to Columbus in 2012. The Buckeyes won the first meeting
17-16. The Spartans won the next one, a shocking upset in the Big Ten
title game that kept Ohio State out of the BCS championship game. And
last year the Buckeyes went into Spartan Stadium as a four-point
underdog and won, one of the biggest steps in a national championship
season. If the 'dog is going to win for the fifth straight year in this
series, Mark Dantonio will be a happy man.
6. Alabama at Georgia, Oct. 3.
Could be a preview of the SEC championship game, and it starts a
rigorous six-game stretch for the Crimson Tide. This also is the first
meeting between the two in Athens since Nick Saban’s original Alabama
power move – the Tide went between the hedges on an amped September
Saturday night in 2008 and destroyed the Bulldogs, marking ‘Bama’s
return to heavyweight status. It has maintained that status ever since,
while Georgia has continued the elusive search for consistent
excellence.
7. Florida State at Clemson, Nov. 7.
The Atlantic Coast Conference divisional and overall titles figure to
be on the line again in Death Valley when these two meet. The Tigers
have lost just seven games the past three seasons, but three of them are
to the Seminoles – who, not coincidentally, won the ACC each of those
three years. Clemson let Jameis-less Florida State off the hook last
year with some short-yardage coaching blunders; can Dabo Swinney &
Co. get it right this time?
8. USC at Oregon, Nov. 21.
Another game that in theory could be a conference championship preview.
Trojans pack a lot of hype into this season, but not since the Pete
Carroll days have they gotten into November as a factor in the national
title race. Second-year USC coach Steve Sarkisian certainly has
something to prove: He’s 0-5 against the Ducks, with every loss by at
least three touchdowns.
9. LSU at Alabama, Nov. 7.
Annual manly man showdown has a chance to usurp the Iron Bowl and
return to Game of the Year status in the SEC. If the Tigers handle
Mississippi State (road) and Auburn (home) in weeks two and three, they
could be 8-0 going to Tuscaloosa. The idea of seeing Derrick Henry and
Leonard Fournette bring 470 pounds of running back awesomeness into the
same stadium is quite appealing.
10. Oklahoma’s Baylor-TCU two-step, Nov. 14 and 21.
If anyone other than the Bears and Horned Frogs is going to win the Big
12, it’s probably the Sooners. And if they’re going to regain primacy
with Bob Stoops’ rejiggered staff, they’ll have to do it on successive
Saturdays late in the season. Oklahoma goes to Waco on Nov. 14 to face a
Baylor program that has pounded it two years in a row, then hosts TCU
on Nov. 21 in a rematch of a game that stamped the Frogs as serious
contenders last year. Is Oklahoma back, or still trending toward
obsolescence?
11. USC at Notre Dame, Oct. 17.
Fighting Irish getting a lot of preseason love, but the front-loaded
schedule reaches a climax with this annual rivalry game. If Notre Dame
has gotten through Texas, Georgia Tech and Clemson with one or fewer
losses, this could be huge. Irish were an injury-riddled mess last
season in Los Angeles, losing 49-14. Can they make up five touchdowns on
the Trojans in a year?
12. Ohio State at Virginia Tech, Sept. 7.
The Buckeyes’ one revenge game of 2015 was shaping up as a beatdown,
but then star Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa and a couple of key
receivers were suspended. This still should be an OSU victory, but the
task has gotten tougher. On the road, Labor Day night – Ohio State has
to show up ready.
13. Oregon at Stanford, Nov. 14.
These two have split the last six Pac-12 championships – four for the
Ducks, two for the Cardinal. In the last five years, the winner of this
game has won the league. So, yeah, it’s a big one.
14. Washington at Boise State, Sept. 4.
Chris Petersen revisits the program he helped build into an unlikely
power. The folks in Boise are quite bullish on this year’s Broncos, who
have experience everywhere but quarterback (kind of an important
element). If they can beat their old coach week one and win at BYU week
two, they could run the table.
15. Michigan at Utah, Sept. 3.
The sport lucked into the perfect season lid-lifter. The Most
Intriguing Coach in the country makes his Michigan coaching debut on
Thursday night, on the road, against a quality opponent. And that
quality opponent could reveal a stealth Heisman Trophy candidate in
running back Devontae Booker.
16. UCLA at USC, Nov. 28.
How do you set yourself up to coach in one place as long as you want?
Beat your arch-rival. Jim Mora is 3-0 against the Trojans as the coach
of the Bruins – winning the first two as an underdog and easily covering
the spread in all three. If Mora can get to 4-0 in this rivalry, it
could derail a USC Pac-12 South title bid – and may elevate his own
team’s title bid.
17. Louisville vs. Auburn in Atlanta, Sept. 5.
On paper it’s a legitimate but manageable opening opponent for the
Tigers. Then you factor in Bobby Petrino’s record in season openers – a
perfect 10-0. And then you wonder where things stand with problem-child
Auburn receiver D’haquille Williams – one of just four returning
offensive starters for Gus Malzahn. This could be tougher than it looks
for the Tigers.
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